ITALY: An Italian minister, forced to step down as a candidate for European commissioner over opposition to his views on homosexuality, has said he was possibly a worse sinner than most gays.
"I do not think that I am better than a homosexual, because I am a sinner too . . . very possibly a worse sinner than most homosexuals," Minister for European Affairs Rocco Buttiglione told German broadcaster N24. He did not specify what he believed the nature of his sins to be.
Mr Buttiglione, a devout Roman Catholic and friend of Pope John Paul, said the way he was treated during the commission crisis was "an act of discrimination". Homosexuality was not "morally irreproachable . . . It is bad", he added.
